Professionalization of middle-school teaching in the second half of the 19th century—a Hungarian–Prussian comparison L'Harmattan Kiadó, 2010
The results of the author's researches belie a good many statements still commonly made in international literature about professionalization and modernization in Hungary (and East-Central Europe generally). For one thing, belatedness can only be asserted to a very limited extent, if the course of events in Hungary is examined. For another, it is clear that the other idea behind the backwardness theory-professionalization processes in continental Europe were the same with temporal differences-does not apply to the comparison being made in this book. The professionalization of Hungary's middle-school teachers went no faster and no slower, no better and no worse than that of their Prussian counterparts. The starting points were almost identical, but the courses taken were different.
So it seems that this combination of circumstances in the second half of the 19th century turned Hungary's middle-school teaching staff into a modern group of the intelligentsia in whose self-image and communal presence autonomy and independence based on their expertise played an important part, alongside the state, and its extent differed essentially from that of their Prussian counterparts. The interesting character of this finding is enhanced further the Hungarian teaching community, emphasizing and demonstrating its independence from the state, had the state's modernizing intentions and measures to thank for its very existence.
CONTENTS
Foreword Introduction
METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS-CONCEPTUALIZATION Theories of professionalization in sociology Professionalization as a paradigm in German and Hungarian historical studies Concepts and boundaries-a comparative examination of the intelligentsia's concept of the Bildungsbürgertum The concept of the intelligentsia and Hungarian historical studies The rise and fall of the Bildungsbürgertum concept The comparative historiographic method and its discourses Relevant issues of sources, time frames and comparative method for this research
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE ASSOCIATIONS IN HUNGARY AND PRUSSIA Middle schools and middle-school teachers in Hungary and Prussia in the 1870s The formation of associations Allies and enemies-relations of the state and the teachers' associations Theories and explanations
THE SELF-IMAGE OF MIDDLE-SCHOOL TEACHERS Moving into a professional role-Hungary's middle-school teachers Close to the state-the middle-school teachers of Prussia Theories and explanations
TEACHERS AND THE STATE Hungary: In the professional field-curricula and teacher training Professional autonomy-work place structures Rights and duties, financial rewards-service statutes The act on middle schools
Prussia: Erecting the legislative/regulatory frames of middle-school education Teacher training and the qualifying examination Financial rewards, official rank Professional autonomy-work place structures Comparison |